


A Mantel Full of Memories

by Caedmon



Series: Nearly Human 'verse [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Housewarming, Pete's World, fireplace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-07-12 02:51:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7081915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caedmon/pseuds/Caedmon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the Doctor and Rose's housewarming party, Donna looks at the photos displayed on the mantel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Mantel Full of Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Just a couple of reminders...
> 
> I own nothing but the misteaks. This is unbeta'd and written a long time ago. Just getting around to posting. :)  
> Comments and kudos keep the muse fat and happy!  
> Come talk to me! caedmonfaith.tumblr.com

It was a lovely party, much more subdued than a typical Tyler shindig. Rose and the Doctor’s new flat wasn’t nearly as big as the mansion that usually hosted the Tylers' parties, but the flat was the centerpiece of the evening; it was a housewarming, after all. 

Only a few close friends had been invited, it was much more of a dinner party. Donna always found herself deeply flattered when she was included in the Tyler’s plans. She’d never quite gotten over the feeling that she wasn’t special, just a temp from Chiswick, but Rose and the Doctor seemed determined to disabuse her of this notion. The Doctor especially was fond of her, and the feeling was entirely mutual. No matter how he had come to Earth - this Earth, that is - she was glad he had. She couldn’t imagine her life without her spaceman now, and Rose was as dear a friend as she’d ever had. 

Lee was chatting with the Doctor and one of their mates from work, and Rose was tied up with her mother. Formidable woman, Jackie Tyler. Donna liked that. 

There was a chill in the air, which was understandable given that it was October and wet outside. Still, Donna found herself wandering towards the cheerfully burning fireplace, seeking a little warmth. Curiosity drew her closer, and found her perusing the pictures and knickknacks on the large mantle as she sipped her claret. 

Most of them were family pictures, and Donna recognized the people in them. There was Rose with her parents, snuggling a tiny blue bundle that she knew to be Tony. There was another picture of Tony, this time with Rose and the Doctor. The two were squatting with Tony standing between and just in front of them. The Doctor was smiling in his jeans and white oxford and had his head slightly inclined towards Rose and Tony, who were smiling brightly at the camera. It appeared to be quite recent, as the Doctor had only been here since the beginning of July. She knew that Tony had grown incredibly attached to the Doctor and vice versa almost instantly, so she wasn’t surprised to see the photo on the mantle. 

“That was a fun day,” Rose said from just behind Donna, making her jump. “Tony enjoyed the pumpkin patch almost as much as the Doctor.”

Donna grinned at her friend. “This was recent?”

Rose nodded as she swallowed a sip of her claret. “Two weeks ago.” She looked along the mantle fondly. “So many memories up here.”

“I’m sorry,” Donna apologized immediately. “I feel intrusive all of the sudden…”

“Oh no!” Rose soothed her by putting a hand on her arm. “We wouldn’t have them displayed if we didn’t want to remember them, and reminiscing is fun.” She gave her friend a warm smile.

The redhead turned back to the mantle and scanned the pictures again. “What’s this one?” she asked, pointing to a sepia-tone picture of the Doctor and Rose in a field. Rose had on a long, frilly dress and boots, the Doctor had his arm around Rose’s waist and was holding her close, their hands grasped together with fingers entwined. The two of them could be dancing, except that Rose had jumped up on the Doctor and wrapped her legs around his waist. The Doctor certainly didn’t seem to mind: the two of them were gazing at each other as if they were the only people in the universe. Donna knew from experience that that look wasn’t uncommon. 

Rose smiled. “That’s from the interview we did after the bomb dropped about our relationship. We decided it was better to just fully go public.”

Donna looked at the picture, mesmerized by the way her two friends didn’t even seem to realize that there was a camera there. They just gazed into each other's eyes as if lost in their dance.

“I haven’t seen this particular article,” she noted idly.

“It’s not out yet,” Rose said. “Should be next week, I think.”

“I took this one,” Donna commented, indicating a photo of the two of them, Rose with her back pressed up against the Doctor’s side, his arms wrapped securely around her. She beamed, hair flying all about her face, obviously full of joy. The Doctor’s smile was smaller, but tender. He had a scruff in this picture, and she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not. Apparently Rose did, because it was still there. 

Rose smiled, and Donna pointed to another picture. Rose was standing next to a tall man in a beaten, black leather jacket. His hair was dark and quite short, his nose and ears a bit overlarge, and he appeared to be at least twice Rose’s age. But his eyes...his eyes were the brightest blue she had ever seen. Captivating, really. Rose was nestled into his side, and the man had his arm loosely slung around Rose. He was smiling, a huge, goofy grin, and Rose had one hand laid on the burgundy jumper he wore under the coat. 

“Who’s that with you?” 

“Oh! That’s…”

“A right old tosser, him.” The Doctor said with a grin in his voice. Rose rolled her eyes. He held out the bottle of claret and indicated that he’d like to refill their glasses. “Wine for my two favorite ladies.”

“Don’t let my mum hear you say that,” Rose warned, smiling behind her wineglass.

“Never,” the Doctor swore. 

“This bloke,” Donna said, indicating the picture again. “Who was he? You look comfortable with him, Rose.”

“A daft old bastard, that one,” the Doctor piped up. 

“Old boyfriend?”

Rose’s eyes twinkled and she cut her eyes at the Doctor. “I guess you could say he’s an old boyfriend.”

“Old being the operative word here,” Donna said. 

“Oi!”

“What? He’s a rangy bloke. Looks dour.”

“I’m smiling there, you ginge! And M’not rangy!”

Rose giggled. “That’s the Doctor, the first Doctor I knew. Before he regenerated.”

Donna sensed an opportunity to tease the Doctor and leapt on it. “I think you nailed it, Doctor. You look quite daft.”

“Oi!” he exclaimed again, and Rose giggled.

“And old enough to be Rose’s dad! Bloody lecher, you are.”

Rose snorted into her wineglass and the Doctor scowled at Donna. “I was not.”

“You were, too,” Rose said teasingly. “But I loved it.”

The Doctor sniffed. “Of course you did. Rather impressive, me.”

Rose rolled her eyes again and Donna ignored him. “Now, that one there looks to be more your type, Rose. Who is he?”

She was pointing to a photo of Rose, the Doctor and Jack. Each of the men had an arm around Rose: the Doctor holding her waist, and Jack with his arm around Rose’s shoulder. Both men were turned in towards Rose, kissing her on the hair. Rose’s nose were scrunched up and her eyes closed, clearly squealing. 

“A bloody menace, that’s who that is,” the Doctor grumbled. Rose swatted his arm.

“That’s Captain Jack. Jack Harkness. He traveled with us for a time.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, Rose, that man was _not_ a captain,” the Doctor said in a long-suffering tone. 

“And I can’t believe that after all these years, you’re still experiencing ‘captain envy’,” Rose shot back, putting her tongue between her teeth when she smiled at him. The Doctor gave her a sideward glance and pursed his lips, but there wasn’t any heat to it. 

“Rather handsome, he is,” Donna noted.

“He was very handsome, and oh, he was a flirt. He put the moves on both of us...and anyone, really,” Rose agreed, and the Doctor scowled at the picture a little. “But I only ever had eyes for the Doctor.”

“That’s sweet,” Donna said sincerely, and the Doctor preened. “What about this one?” She lifted a picture of the Doctor and Rose from the 2012 Olympics. 

“Ugh, I remember thinking that side pony was cute.”

“It was cute!” the Doctor protested.

“Says you, and you’re biased.”

“Nice suit, spaceman,” Donna said, her lip curled. “And the coat? What is it with you and coats? At least you ditched the coat in this one.” She held up a picture of Rose and the Doctor snuggled on Jackie’s couch, arms around each other and smiling brightly.

“Oi! I looked dashing in my suit and coats.”

Rose looked at the picture in Donna’s hand fondly. “He wore nothing but that suit from Christmas until, well, until he came here.” She sounded wistful. “We used to lay that long coat out as a blanket and lie back to look at the stars on whatever planet we were on. We were at mum’s here, though.” Rose gave a tight smile. “I loved that suit and coat.”

The Doctor didn’t say anything, he just put his arm around Rose and tugged her close. “Love _you_ , my precious girl,” he murmured. 

“Your mum let you date an alien?”

The Doctor gave her a sideward glance, but Rose answered before he could say anything. “Everyone assumed we were a couple from the day we started travelling together. My mum did, too. So when we did finally become a couple, she’d accepted it long before.”

“And this one?” 

“Ah, yes,” the Doctor answered. “That was us at the Coronation of Elizabeth II.”

“You were there?” Donna said disbelievingly. Rose and the Doctor nodded. “What’s with the blue box?”

“S’ the Tardis,” the Doctor said proudly.

“ _That’s_ the Tardis?”

“It is.”

Rose nodded in confirmation. “It was a frankly magnificent ship. And our home.” The Doctor’s eyes grew a little sad with the use of the past tense, but Donna missed it.

“And you just happened to have clothes from the 1950’s lying around?”

“The Tardis picked it out for me,” she said. 

“The Tardis could pick things out for you to wear?”

“Oh yes. The Tardis was alive and sentient.”

“And she quite liked Rose,” the Doctor said. “She went to great lengths to protect both of us. Excuse me.”

Rose and Donna watched him walk away and disappear down the hall. “Did I do something wrong?” Donna asked.

“No, not at all. He just gets a little homesick from time to time.” She traced the Tardis in the picture. “I do, too, to be honest. We were very happy.”

“Are you not now?”

“‘Course I am. We have forever together now, and we didn’t before. Still…” Rose looked at the picture wistfully. “It was lovely to open the front doors and see a black landscape dotted with miracles.”

Donna couldn’t say anything to that, she just stood with Rose. “You certainly look happy in all of these.”

“The Doctor saved me. He thinks I saved him, and perhaps we saved each other, but I always felt like he rescued me. I would be lost without him.”

“That goes both ways, love,” the Doctor said as he slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her.

“How did you two meet?” Donna asked. “What could a beautiful girl like yourself see in a mangy old man?”

“Oi!” the Doctor protested again, and Donna giggled. 

Rose giggled, too, and leaned her head back to kiss his cheek. “He wasn’t mangy, although he _was_ a bit dour in that body.” The Doctor scowled, but he couldn’t protest that. Rose looked back at Donna and smiled, remembering. “But really, I suppose, he took my hand in that basement and told me to run. And something in me recognized him then, in that very moment.” she said. “So I took off running with him. And I realized almost as soon as I started running with him that I’d never, ever want to stop.” She leaned her head back again to look into the Doctor’s eyes. He was smiling down at her, and her eyes were nothing but tenderness when she said, “So I haven’t. And I never will.”


End file.
